Tameside businesses fined five-figure sums for having illegal workers

TAMESIDE firms have been fined a total of £35,000 for employing illegal workers.

Two in Ashton-under-Lyne and one in Stalybridge have been punished by the Government after being found to have breached regulations.

Ashton Hand Car Wash, on Oldham Road, will have to pay £15,000 after being included on the Illegal Working Civil Penalties List.

Murghano’s takeaway on Kings Road – operated by parent company Peri, Pizza and Grill Ltd – has been fined £10,000.

And Staly Mini Market, on Melbourne Street in Stalybridge, will have to hand over the same sum.

The Home Office issues a list of firms found to have been employing illegal workers four times a year.

Technically, employers could be sent to jail for five years and have to pay an unlimited fine if found guilty of employing someone who they know or had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ did not have the right to work in the UK.

Examples include not having permission to enter or remain in the country, that permission expiring or paperwork being incorrect or false.

However, under these civil penalties, rather than criminal, the maximum fine for employing illegal workers increased in February to £45,000 for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat breaches.

These penalties apply per illegal worker, but the business owners have 28 days to appeal to a County Court.